Shingle cutter



May 2, 1933. R. G. HOFFERT SHINGLE CUTTER Filed June 8, 1931 M40arrangement Patented May 2, 1933 a UNITED STATES, :PATIIENT OFFICE I ROYHOFFERT, F B ACINE, WISCONSIN;

SHINGLE CUTTER 7 Application filed' June 8," 1931. Seria1 No.'542,881.

The object of my invention is toprovide a shingle cutter of: simple,

cut shingles of various thicknesses and which is comparatively easy tooperate.

A further object is to provide in a shingle.

cutter of that type having two jaw members carrying cutter bladesimproved means for pivotally connecting one end of said aw members,whereby the ing pivotally connected with one end, imsi proved means forswinging the free ends of the jaw members to open and ClQSBd POSltions,whereby the cutter Wlll be supported against lateral movement onerelative to the other as they are operated.

A further object is to provideina shingle I cutter improved meanstaching the cutter frame to a roof. t t V A further object isto providein a shingle for temporarily atcutter, having movable jawmembersandleverage mechanism for operating thejaw members, a punchcarried by one of, said. jaw members and a punch die carried by 2whereby the lever" the other jaw member, mechanism may be utilizedforlpunch ng purposes as well as for operating the'cutter blades. I

My invention consists in the construction,

and combination of the va-' rious parts of the'device, whereby theobjects contemplatedare attaine'ch'as herein after more fully set"forth,v pointed outfin my claims, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which: j j Figure 1 is aside elevation of my improvedshingle cutter. a Figure 2 is a plan view of same. Figure 3 is a front.end view.

igure 4 is a side elevation of the-front durable and inexpensiveconstruction which is adapted :to

end of the cutter with the-jaws in their closed position. t y

Figure 5 is an enlarged detailview showing the device for indicating theamount. of adjustment of the cutter blades.

' Figure 6 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 4.v s Figure -7 is an end elevation of Figure 5. Referring to theaccompanying drawing, I 'haveused the numeral 10 to indicate the lowerjaw member of-my improvedcutter, which also constitutes the cutter base.The back of themember 10 has a downwardly extending leg 11, while theforward endis provided with a downwardly extending leg v 12. The lowerend of the leg 12 terminates in lateral arm portions 13,,eachof whichhas a set screw 14' pointed at its lower end, the set screw beingprovided with a lock nut 15 for anchoring the screw in position. Thepointed end of the set screw extends below the foot portion 16 a slightdistance to penetrate the sheeting of the, roof on which the device ismounted, to prevent it from slipping oflt'of the roof, I 5

I The lower end'of the leg 12 is also provided with, a downwardly andforwardly extending shoe 17.. Said shoe 17 is designed toassist inpulling the pointed ends of the set screw when removing the cutterframe. This is accomplished by simply elevating the, rear end of theframe at which time the shoe 17 serves as a fulcrum; The rear end of thejaw member 10 is provided with an enlarged portion 18 having a hole 19for receiving a threadedrod 20; Thevupperend of said rod 20'is pivotallyconnected in'the rear end of the upper ,jaw'member 21 by means of apivot 22.

The member 18is also provided with a slot 23 for receiving a knurled nut24, which provides means forelevating and lowering the rod 20 for,adjusting the rear end of the I jaw member 21. I

The member 18 is also provided with a socket in which a graduated plate25 is in I sertech 'An'index member 26 is carried by the pivot members22, havingitsfree enddesigned 'to pass over the. graduated plate 25forindicating the distance the rear ends of the jaw members are adjustedapart in fractions of an inch.

The front end of the jaw member is provided with a pair of spaced lugs27, each'of which is provided with a groove 28 having a link 29pivotally mounted therein by means of pivot members 30.

The forward end of the jaw member 21 is also provided with a pair ofspaced lugs 31, each of which is provided with a groove 32. The distancebetween the grooves 32 is the same as the distance between the grooves28, said grooves providing guides for receiving the links 29.

For operating the free ends of the jaw members I have provided a handle83, the

lower end of which has a yoke 34 having two forwardly and downwardlyextending bifurcated lugs 35 for pivotally receiving the upper end ofthe links 29 by pivot members 36. The yoke is also provided with arearwardly and downwardly extending lug 37 which is pivota l mounted inthe bifurcated lug 38 extending upwardly from the upper surface of theforward end of the jaw member 21.

By this arrangement it will be seen that if the upper end of the lever33, as seen in Figure l, is moved rearwardly, then the lever will beswung about the pivot of the leg 37, causing the pivot members 36 to beelevated and moved rearwardly, which in turn will cause the forward endof the jaw member 21 to be lowered. The pivots 36 approach a nearly deadcenter position as the jaw members are moved to their closed position,so that considerable leverage is provided. 7

The forward end of the jaw 21 is provided with a forwardly extending lug39, in which is pivotally mounted one end of a. rod 40, the lower end ofsaid rod being slidably mounted in the forward end of a lug 41 extendingforwardly from the jaw member 10. A spring 42 is placed on the rod andassists in moving the jaw members to a separated position and forholding them in their open position when the shingles are placed inposition between the jaw members.

The inner edges of said jaw member are each provided with a longitudinalgroove 55, which grooves are of uniform depth. A cutter blade 56 isgroove with its back edge fitting the bottom of said groove. Set screws57 are provided for holding said blade in position. A cutter blade 58 isprovided for the top groove having its back edge beveled outwardly andinwardly from its central portion. The back edge of the outer end of theblock is beveled a greater amount than the back of the inner end;

Set screws 59 are provided to hold the cutter firmly in the slot 55 andat the same supported in saidv time permits the cutter to fit in theslot in such a manner that the cutter will always automatically assume aparallel position relative to the cutter 56 when the jaw members areclosed, in case the set screw 20 should not be adjusted quite right.

In actual operation when cutting thick shingles it is often desirable toout only partway through, after which the pieces are broken apart toleave a rough edge for ornamental purposes, in which case the cuttersnever come in contact with each other.

The jaw member 21 is provided with an opening 44 near the upper edge ofthe jaw member to form a hand hold by means of which the cutter may bemoved from one position to another.

Formed on the upper edge of one side of the jaw member 10 is a laterallyextending bracket 45, having a punch die 46, said bracket also havingradially extending arms 47 which assist in supporting a shingle inposition on thedie. The upper surfaces of the members 47 are level withthe upper edge of the lower cutter 43, so that the edge of the cutteralso serves as a support for the shingle.

The upper jaw member is provided with laterally extending lugs 48 and49, which are designed to slidably receive a punch 50 to coact with thepunch die 46. The punch 50 has a collar 51 and a spring 52, the springbeing mounted between the member 49 and the collar 51 to normally holdthe punch in its elevated position with the collar 51 against the undersurface of the lug 48.

The punch 50 is provided with a suitable opening to receive a pin 53 forlocking the punch in its lower limit of movement, and when so locked,the lower end of the punch will enter the die 46 as the aw member 21 ismoved to its closed position by means of the lever 33.

The upper end of the punch 50 is provided with a hand plate 54 whichprovides means for forcing the punch downwardly against the action ofthe spring when the pin 53 is being placed in position. After said pinis in position then the punch may be utilized for punching holes in theshingles, or if so desired, the punch may be operated by simply pressingthe member 50 downwardly by means of the member 54.

Thus it will be seen I have provided a shingle cutter of comparativelysimple and rigid construction in which the pivoted end of the cutterjaws may be adjusted at the will of the operator; and in connectiontherewith a gauge to enable the operator to quickly and easily make thenecessary adjustment; and at the same time I have provided a powerfullever mechanism for closing the free ends of the jaws, said mechanismincluding a pair of spaced links which pull the upper cutter memberdownwardly in a line direct with thelower cutter, so theupper cuttermembers are always working opend. The spring 42 provides reliable means3 for opening the jaw members and retaining them in an open positionwhile the shingle is being placed between the cutters. I

The adjustable pointed set screwsl4 provide means whereby the cutter maybe easily and quickly moved from one position to another. The shoe 17assists in removing the pointed member.

I claim as my invention: c

1, A shingle cutter comprising a pair of jaw members having their rearends pivoted together, coacting cutters carried by. said jaws, a pair ofspaced links pivoted to the forward end of oneof said jaws, a lever forclosingsaid jaws having a yoke at one end, means for pivoting one leg ofsaidyoke to the free ends of said links, means for pivoting the otherleg of said yoke to the forward end of the other jaw member, a rodhaving one end pivotally connected to the forward end of one jaw memberand its other ,end

slidably mounted in the forward end of the other jaw member, and aspring on said rod and between said jaw members for normally holding thejaw members in open position.

2. In a shingle cutter, the combination of a pair of pivoted jawmembers, each having its inner edge provided with a longitudinal groove,a cutter blade in each groove,"the

back edge of one blade being beveledout wardly from its central portionto permit a slight tilting movement; ofsaid bladeas it is moved toclosed position; j I

3. In a shingle cutter, thecombination of a pair of pivoted jaw members,each having its inner edge provided with a longitudinala cutter blade ineach groove,the

groove, central portion of the back edge of said blade-being designed toengage the bottom of said grooves with spaces between the. ends of saidback edges, and the bottom of said grooves to permit tilting movement ofsaid blade therein, for thepurposes stated.

ROY GEORGE HOFFERT.

